9: A Promised Future
by Lady Marigold
Summary: No one could explain why the machines suddenly bacame silent after the fall of the Humans, or the shocking resurrection's of 1,2,5,6 and 8 but the arrival of a new band of Stitchpunks may hold the answers...and help face their greatest threat yet...


It was heavily overcast above the trash covered streets of a nameless lane, scraps of filthy papers blew gently past half burned and demolished structures that were once houses standing lifelessly in two neat rows of destruction and dead dirt.

All was quiet, until a tiny figure darted from one of the houses. The figure was followed by a dog sized metal monstrosity lopping on all fours.

_Little doll, who made you?_

It made a sound like a bull horn from its human skulled mouth and continued to give chase. Noiselessly, the tiny figure zigzagged through the abandoned cars thrown throughout the area.

_Do you know who made you?_

The Savage smashed through piles of debris and threw the cars out of the way. Bellowing furiously as its prey lengthened the distance between them.

_Given life, and bidden to be free._

The figure glanced over its shoulder and, seeing how far the Savage had fallen, slowed its pace, as if wanting the thing to catch up.

_By road and through the city._

Jumping neatly over a discarded tire, the figure sprinted into a fairly large building with only its skeletal structures remaining.

_Given clothing of flight. _

The Savage bellowed again and crashed through the doorway.

_Stronger then armor, feathery light._

The tiny figure was now climbing up a metal beam at alarming speed.

_Given such an innocent voice._

The monster leapt clumsily after it and attempted to climb. Eventually finding some sturdier beams and snarled furiously.

_Will you make his heart rejoice? _

On the other side of the fragile building several yards away, another figure stepped out from the remains of a roof. A small stitchpunk gray in color with a thick dingy red scarf wrapped around the neck, covering half the face so only the strange intelligent eyes showed.

_Little doll, who made you?_

The tiny figure reached the top of the beam and looked around as the entire thing began to shudder violently. There was nowhere to go except down.

_Little doll, let me tell you._

The savage advanced upwards.

_You are called by her name._

The Stitchpunk's eyes widened as he realized what the little figure's plan was.

_For she is herself is a child._

The Savage reached the top. Metal beams crisscrossed one another allowing the thing to walk slowly towards its intended prey. The figure did not move.

_Pure of soul with the softest smile._

By now only a gap 18 feet wide was the only thing between it and the tiny figure. The monster reached the edge, snarling in triumph. Jump or face the machine, it thought, either way it is going to die here.

_She is a child._

It placed one front foot then the other on a pole that jutted out right under it, the only thing that served as a bridge across the gap. It creaked slightly.

_She a child, you a doll._

The final foot was down. The pipe groaned and suddenly the whole thing dropped a few feet. The Savage clutched on with all fours, looking up in time to the smile on the figures cloth lips.

_You will rise from the ashes of our fall._

The Savage fell three and a half stories when it hit the bottom it crashed through the woodwork into the basement, landing right in a pool of cold water. What was the roof structure had fallen and buried it in with devastating force.

_Little doll, may God bless thee!_

The clouds parted and allowed a stream of light to fall across the figure revealing a small cream colored female stitchpunk. She looked up at the sky and screamed out in victory that rudely shattered the moment.

_Little doll, go now, YOU ARE FREE!_

"Omigoshthatwassooomuchfun! Ican'twaitforthenextonetoshowup! Didyouseethewayitffell? Thatwasthemostawesomest, coolestthingIeversawed!! WOWOWOWOWwhereiseveryone? IhopetheysawthisHEYWORLDLOOKWHATIDIIIIID!!!!

All this was said in less than two or three seconds and still standing in the distance 0 sighed silently and turned off his built in recording that had just ended the song _'Little Doll'. _The echo of 10s child like voice came to him in the rapid fashion he was used to. Behind him, his siblings 14, a faded navy blue male with a sturdy build to his body and 17 (or 'Sev' as they called her), a pale green female with a mystical air about her, walked up on either side of him.

"So THAT's where she went," Sev growled in her British accent "of all the bloody days to suddenly run off, she 'ad to do it the day I said I needed her the most." She turned to her taller companion, optics narrowed. "Will you please escort me over there so we can contain the Speed Freak and go back to…" her voice trailed off as her mind went back to those days when they found more then what they wanted to discover.

14 nodded mutely. 14 didn't talk much and probably would be intimidating but he was really kind and gentle when he wanted to be. Only in a fight would he unleash the battle hardened side he hid beneath his nature loving ways.

0 said nothing. He had no voice to call his own but he communicated by playing parts of songs that have been installed in him. "_You should have-Predicted it all-Because you-Can see- Into tomorrow." _ A mixture of singing words came from him each with a different type of music in the back ground.

"True, true." Sev said frowning a little, "I should 'aved looked but 10 is just so damn predictable!.. Most of the time." She added. "Well let's get this over with."

"LetsgetwhatoverwithwhatSevhuhhuhhuhhuh?"

All three of them jumped to a side and stared at 10 standing between them all. She ran up in front of them so fast that none of them even noticed.

0 took her hand to keep her from running away again and explained. _"Have to go back-Cannot wait any longer-Must-Do what must be done." _She tugged away gently and 0 was afraid she would bolt off in fear but instead, she looked at Sev and 14 with fearful innocence. Sev sighed. 14 placed his large hand on her head to comfort her.

"Don't be afraid…" he whispered in a rumbling voice. 10 smiled at him the way only a child could smile. 0 grinned under his scarf, glade that his sister could understand despite her goofy, short attention span like nature. Sev interrupted.

"Blimey…OK, let's get back to the Haven."

Still holding 10's metal hand, 0 led her while following in the wake of his taller sister. 14 walked behind them; hand on sword, and keeping an eye out for the obvious danger.

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In the library, the twins Stitchpunks, 3 and 4, sat on a broken shelf and grappled with a new book they have just discovered. The twins could not speak, yet they were able to communicate to each other by flashing and flickering their optics rapidly into each other's eyes as they cataloged the new information. They were a curious looking duo, they appeared to have been made from gardening gloves, faded blue bodies and hoods that covered their whole heads leaving only their faces exposed. They kept this up until 9 and 7 walked in from their patrol, the twins jumped up as one and ran to embrace their "parents."

7 was a tough white female Stitchpunk who always wore a bird skull helmet and carried a scalpel looking weapon. She greeted the twins with an affectionate hug, "Nothing out there now, I think we got them all after the fall of the B.R.A.I.N." She looked at her partner and savior 9. He smiled a little at the twins and patted their heads before walking wordlessly over to his side of the room and disappeared behind the curtain that served as a door. 7 sighed and the twins flickered and flashed to each other in concern, ever since the deaths of their companions 1,2,5,6, and 8, it was as if 9 had become the opposite of what he used to be.

The death of 2 and 5 may have devastated him the most. 2, a tinkerer and elder who was the first Stitchpunk 9 meet when he had first awoken and found himself alone in the Emptiness. 2 gave him a voice and defended him when they were attacked by a robotic cat called the Beast that eventually snatched 2 away. 9 was injured in the attack and collapsed from exhaustion and was found by 5 who was looking for bits and things he could run out and bring back without anyone noticing. He brought 9 back and tended his wounds and they became fast friends.

7 shook her head at the memory of it, the rest was too painful to think about but she knew it was nothing but that on 9's mind. She told the twins not to worry about it and sent them off to bed. She tossed her helmet over shoulder and marched to 9's room, determined to set him straight, pausing in front of the green curtain and taking a deep breath she pushed it aside and entered.

9's room was completely bare and had a lonely kind of feeling to it. He was sitting on his bed, which was nothing more than a thick piece of folded cloth, with his back to her. He did not seem to have heard her and 7 as he continued to stare down at something in his hands. 7 cleared her throat. 9 jumped in surprise and twisted around, in his hands was a quiver that had belonged to 5 before he died. The silent awkwardness between lasted only for a few moments before 7 walked around and sat next to him. 9 shifted nervously, knowing that he was in for something. 7 looked at him full. "It's not your fault," She said in a forceful tone, "you couldn't have known anything like that was going to happen, they gave their lives to defeat that thing." 9 turned his eyes away and fiddled with his zipper that closed his burlap chest. It was weird how well she could read him. "2 and 5 died because of me." 9 whispered sadly "They all died because of me. I put that talisman in the machine thinking that it would do something that would help instead it took 2's soul and woke up…" he stopped as the memory came back to him but started again, "After I thought we killed it, it rose from the ashes while I was celebrating and it took 5, my best friend, and the others, if only I haven't of run out from the room where I woke up, then I would have seen the message left by the scientist and they would all still be here."

"WE were celebrating 9, WE thought we killed it, WE all believed that we won and none of us could have even imagined just how indestructible it was." 7 was becoming frustrated. Why can't he see that he was a hero to humanity, because of him, the Earth was free from the clutches of the machines. "No one blames you, every one you set free forgave you and how can their forgiveness matter if you can't even forgive yourself?"

7 heard something shift behind her but 9 failed to notice as he turned his head away and stared at the ground. Without looking, she called out a sharp command "Go to bed you two, I'll be there in a minute." The sound of frantic retreating footsteps quickly faded away behind the curtain. 7 stood and walked away to leave, pausing one last time to glance back at 9, "Just think about it, ok?" she added in a soft voice and left 9 to ponder her words.

Not far from 9's room, another curtain hung from a very low shelf she entered and found the twins on the floor toying with her helmet they picked up on their way back in front of two low boxes lined with cotton and scraps of soft cloth. Seeing her, they leapt into the larger of the wooden boxes that they used as their bed. 7 tucked them in, gave each of them a quick kiss goodnight and blew out the candle that was lit in the corner then laid down in her box bed without a word and stared up at the ceiling. The walls were covered in bits of paper and pictures found in books the twins had gathered; there was an assortment of bright objects as well and a lot of them have been collected by 7 herself. It gave the room a familiar comforting feeling but right now she was just not feeling it, turning on her side she watched the twins signaling to each other with half closed eyes. Eventually they would fall asleep, sometimes before she would but she felt her optics growing heavy and slowly close as she slipped into a dreamless

rest cycle.

Outside the fluffy, night clouds began to form into tight formations, the wind picked up, and the sky was suddenly covered in the black and purple mass that looked almost nothing like clouds. Lightning flickered but the sky made no thunder.

In their bed, the twins woke and huddled close to each other, sensing something that they could not understand and struggled to ignore it and fall back to sleep. 9 turned in his own bed and groaned a little as if something had disturbed him. 7 shifted and her eyes flickered open for a moment but did not wake.

The lightning became more intense and still made no thunder or any type of sound, and then against the will of nature, the strikes changed their color. First it was the natural bright white and then it gained an orange ting, then crimson red. With each strike the black clouds seemed to reflect the color, turning the world under it in its sickening hue. Deep purple, jet black, finally a bright neon green light was ripped from the heavens and was sucked downward far off in the distance yet dangerously close the library. This was no lightning. It had become a beam of radiating light. For several long moments, this continued until the light faded and the clouds became still once more. Then as if to purposely beak the stillness another beam of neon green light was sucked down to the Earth. A third, then a fourth, the final fifth strike. As if nothing had happened, the clouds parted and turned back into their normal whitish grey hue, allowing the night sky to breathe again. The stars themselves seemed to stare down in horrified awe as if trying to find exactly who or what could cause such an unnatural occurrence.

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9 stared into the great cold red eye of the B.R.A.I.N. as it bore down on him. 9 was rooted to the spot, he could not move. Around him were the bodies of his fellow companions, 1 lay unmoving and facedown with 2 sprawled across his back. Half of 6's corpse was impaled on a stake, dripping ink from his hands, 3 and 4's lifeless arms clung to each other as they had done in their final moments. 8 slumped against a pillar, his head missing. 7 was nowhere to be found but at his feet, 9 saw her smashed bird skull helmet. Then the monster lifted one enormous metal claw to show 9 what it held.

5, his friend, his brother.

5's single optic rolled in wild fear, he screamed as the monster's giant eye closed and the talisman snapped open with balls of green electricity at the end of the three prongs.

5 twisted his head around and met 9's eyes, raw terror reflected in the lenses.

"9, help m-"

9 watched as the only person who stayed at his side through despite his timid ways get his soul ripped from his small body.

The thing tossed 5 down so he landed in front of 9. 9 saw the shattered eye and the patch that covered his lost eye burned right through. His mouth was agape and 9 could see the mangled insides. 9 opened his own mouth to scream but nothing came out. Looking up, he saw the B.R.A.I.N. had opened its single eye and in it was the outline of 5. With ghostly hands pressed against the glass, his cloth lips parted and a silent wail echoed in 9's head.

"_9, why did you let me die?" _

9 slowly sank to his knees and shrieked in despair as the monster laughed its menacing triumph.

"9!? Wake up!"

9's eyes snapped open and found himself staring into 7's. Her hands grasped his shoulders and she was shaking him roughly, he sat up in an instant and 7 let go. Behind her 3 and 4 clutched each other and stared at 9 with worried eyes. 9 was gasping for breath, he shivered in terror and blinked several times until he finally realized that it was all just a nightmare. He pushed his covers aside and tried to stand but 7 grasped his shoulders again, keeping him in place. "9, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" "No…no it was just…a dream…." He said lamely. What could he tell her? Even after that harsh talk he couldn't let go of his guilt.

The sun was shining brightly through the broken windows. Catching the panes and creating colorful swirls on the worn dusty floor. 9 didn't notice any of this. He sat on the lip of the fountain that once stood proudly in the center of the library when the Humans had existed. That fountain was also the final resting place of 2. 9 glanced back at it or what was left of it, not too long ago, the earth beneath it collapsed and all the water, and 2's body, went with it. 9 looked away; he couldn't stand the thought of it.

Outside the twins were playing some kind of game that only they understood. Flickering a light into the others eye and trying to guess how many more clicks were meant to make up the next word. As they played something shifted behind them. They were completely unaware of a pair of small eyes gazing at them before vanishing. Again something shifted.

7 was out scouting again though there was little need to, the twins said to each other after a while, they were safe now. Why couldn't 7 and 9 just start acting like the people they read in the stories? The ones where a male and female Human meet and do this thing called 'falling in love' and then-

"Oh, 3, 4 how nice to see you. What kind of game are you playing today?" the twins whipped around at the sound of the voice.

They froze.

It was as if they have stepped back in time. He was dead. They have both seen his body as it was gently pushed into the fountain. They saw his soul pass on to the heavens with the others.

2 was standing before them, new lenses, new stitching, and looking as alive as the day the last saw him in the cathedral. 2 noticed their shocked expressions and his smile became something of worry.

"What's wrong?" he spoke like a grandfather to his grandchildren. "Did I sprout an extra eye?"

Behind him, 1 followed closely by 8, came slowly up the hillside. Behind them, a rapidly muttering 6 leaned on 5 for support as they limped up. They all looked confused and a little disoriented.

9 was still sitting on the fountain when the twins barged in so fast they actually tripped over each other's legs. They sprang up to 9, their optics wider then he had ever seen, they flickered and flashed desperately and grabbed his arms and literally dragged him outside.

9 really had no time to react to their sudden actions but he, like the twins, froze. He blinked then blinked again. No this wasn't his imagination, this was real. 1, 8 and 6 sat upon the ground before him.

They panted and grunted and kept looking around in dazed wonder. Beyond them 7 was hugging a somewhat startled 2 as if she never wanted to let go. If their kind could weep, she would be bawling her optics out right now.

"9?"

9 turned to look at the one who had spoken behind him behind him.

"5?"

5 walked up to him. His single optic nervously searching him. "9, what h-happened? How did we get here? W-what have we been doing all this time?"

At this point 9 fell to his hands and knees and cried tearlessly.

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"Now just a bit more…"

In a dimly candle lit room, the two Stitchpunks 14 and Sev huddled around something that sparkled in the center of the floor and reached up towards the ceiling . "I'll 'old it, you use those priers to make the formations." 14 picked up the tool and set to work. There was a sound of straining metal and he glanced over to his sister, she nodded approvingly. "Good, now I only need to set just right… there!"

Sev stood back and proudly gazed at their creation, "now my powers will increase 6 fold, no 7 fold!" She cackled almost in a nasty way but jumped when the lights overhead suddenly flick on. The room lit up and revealed a treasure trove warehouse. Everything from teacups, toys to brand-new computers still in their boxes and other artifacts of all shapes and sizes and made up of all the materials they knew were arranged in a complete mess around the room.

0 stood on top a chair and flicked the light switch on and off. He was quite pleased with himself for being able to fix the electrical system by himself.

In the center of the room was a curious wire sculpture. Gold in color, twisted like web fingers wrapping around small crystals, diamonds of all colors that sparkled and glittered like water and tiny mirrors. 0 guessed that at one point it used to be a jewelry holder. Sev glared up at him as 14 struggled to hide his laughter, "0! Will you tell us next time you decide to toy with the lights?" 0 just shrugged and smirked under his scarf. 10 loped up behind them. "IgotitIgotitIgotitIgotIgotit!!!" In her tiny hands was a glass bead. "Perfect!" Sev grabbed it and placed it into the center of the device, "And now, a glimpse into tomorrow!" The others huddled behind Sev as she gazed deep into the device, looking for visions.

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End file.
